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This page features some of the latest NEPA Actions published by NASA Centers. NEPA visitors are encouraged to check back often to view additional announcements and updates. A comprehensive list of NEPA documents are available in the NEPA Library.

The NOA of this draft Environmental Assessment has been published in the Federal Register. The EA updates the current NASA Routine Payload EA that was published in 2002. Public comments are welcome during the 45-day comment period (ending October 12, 2011).

Congress recently clarified direction for NASA’s post-Shuttle program for human space flight and exploration, which was previously known as Constellation. This modified Record of Decision (ROD) documents NASA’s consideration of possible changes in the environmental impacts resulting from directed changes in the Agency’s proposed human spaceflight program.

Title 14 CFR 1216.3, Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act
NASA’s NEPA regulations were last updated in 1988. NASA first informed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) of the need to update the agency NEPA regulations (14 CFR 1216.3) in 2008. An internal cross-functional Work Group (see Preparers below) drafted the proposed revision. After extensive review and incorporating CEQ comments in the proposed regulations, NASA submitted the Proposed Revised NASA NEPA Regulations to the Office of Management and Business (OMB) for their review. OMB completed their interagency review process in January 2011. After addressing received from two agencies, a final Federal Register notice was prepared and signed by the NASA Administrator on July 14, 2011. The Federal Register Notice contains a detailed Preamble and the full text of the proposed rule. The Notice was published on July 21, initiating the 60-day public review period. The Notice contains the Web site and mailing address for interested persons to submit comments. Comments were accepted until September 21, 2011. NASA is in the process of finalizing the rule as no comments were received and the final rule will be public in the Federal Register later this year.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center located in Alabama has published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Demolition and Remediation Cleanup Activities for the NASA administered portion of Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California.

NASA has announced the availability of the Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Alternative Energy Project.

The purpose of the Alternative Energy Project is to generate renewable electricity at WFF to assist NASA as an agency in meeting or exceeding the requirements of the 2005 Federal Energy Policy Act and various Executive Orders. The project would also be expected to stabilize WFF's growing utility costs and provide educational outreach regarding renewable energy technologies.

Under the Proposed Action/Preferred Alternative, NASA would install up to an 80-acre system of solar panels at the Main Base that would be capable of generating 10 gigawatt-hours per year of electricity. Additionally, two 2.4 kilowatt residential-scale wind turbines would be installed near the WFF Visitor Center and the entrance gate/security guard station at the Mainland, respectively. At full buildout, the electricity generated annually by this project would equate to approximately 850 average American homes. Given the large capital investment required for a project of this size, the proposal would not be implemented immediately in its entirety; rather it would be built in multiple smaller phases over time.

**Please note that the Proposed Action differs from what was initially presented in the Draft EA. Due to substantial concerns raised by agencies and organizations regarding potential impacts on birds and bats, the two utility-scale wind turbines on Wallops Island are no longer proposed.**

NASA has also prepared a Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) concluding that an Environmental Impact Statement is not necessary for this project. NASA will take no final action prior to 30 days following publication of the Draft FONSI Notice of Availability (NOA) in local newspapers. NOAs were placed in local newspapers this week.

NASA has distributed a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and to conduct scoping for the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) Plum Brook Station (PBS) Wind Farm Project. The NOI is in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the CEQ Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), Executive Order 13423, and NASA policy and procedures (14 CFR part 1216 Subpart 1216.3). NASA is conducting scoping to obtain
the public’s comments on the wind farm construction and operation. This scoping is in preparation for an Environmental Impact Statement.

NASA has prepared a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment(PEA) that analyzes scientific balloon launch and flight operations from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Fort Sumner, New Mexico and the CSBF in Palestine, Texas. The Draft PEA is in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and NASA NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part 1216, Subpart 1216.3). NASA is proposing to increase the number of scientific balloons launched every year from the two Scientific Balloon Facilities.

NASA has made a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to the proposed Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission to be launched on a Pegasus XL launch vehicle from the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) in August 2011. The only other alternative that was considered in detail was No Action.

Comments on the Draft SRIPP Preliminary Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) were solicited upon publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. NASA hosted a public comment meeting to discuss the Draft SRIPP PEIS on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 from 6-9 p.m. at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Information Center..